SGIA48030: CORE CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

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• This module provides a critical survey of major research in comparative politics and political science, providing an advanced understanding of major approaches and the principal debates within the field.
• This module will cover research which uses institutionalist, sociological, behaviouralist, and political economy approaches to study political phenomena.

• Indicative topics include: state formation, political development, political institutions both in democratic and non-democratic regimes, political economy, electoral rules, representation, legislative political behaviour, voter behaviour, and campaigns and elections.
• The content of the module will cover both contemporary research within each field as well as classic works. This will give students a background in how the literature in the field has developed over time.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Advanced knowledge of a range of contemporary comparative politics research agendas.
• Critical understanding of theoretical debates within different comparative politics subfields.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Advanced comparative analytical skills in the assessment of the merits of different theoretical perspectives on comparative politics.
• Critical engagement, assessment and evaluation of different forms of research in comparative political science.
• Advanced understanding of central theoretical debates within comparative politics, and how these relate to empirical approaches.

Key Skills:

• Effective presentation of scholarly analysis.
• Independent research skills to augment initial guidance on suitable sources.
• Effective assessment of the quality and suitability of scholarly sources.
• Demonstrate skills of independent learning through reaching and defending personal intellectual judgments on complex issues.

• Following an initial introductory seminar setting out the aims, learning outcomes and teaching, assessment models, and student expectations, the module will be principally taught through 16 two-hour seminars, with each seminar focusing on a specific topic within comparative politics. After a brief introduction of the topic of the week, the seminar will focus on discussion and critical engagement with the literature, focusing specifically on the theoretical development of the subfield, what informs the research agenda of the subfield, and specific critiques with regards to the contemporary readings provided. Seminars will be instructor directed but will focus on discussion of the week's readings, specifically with regard to the theories and research designs of each individual work.
• After the first seminar, every fourth seminar consists of a reading week, where students have the opportunity to catch up on the readings for the module. The reading weeks will thus be held on weeks 5 and 9 in Michaelmas term and weeks 4 and 8 in Epiphany term.
• Students will also be able to access members of academic staff through their routine office hours, typically 1.5 hours per week when academic staff are available to meet with students to address individual queries and concerns. Participation in these activities is voluntary, reflecting the different levels of prior knowledge of the subject possessed by the diverse student community involved with the degree programmes and also in recognition of the level of individual responsibility for learning that postgraduate students can be expected to take.
• Formative assessment will come in the form of one 1,000 word essay. Students will be given a series of possible questions, each of which relates to the theories, concepts, and research covered during the first half of the module, and will be asked to answer one of these. Students will be expected to critically analyse relevant literatures, and will be evaluated on the quality of understanding and engagement with the literature.
• This module has two summative assessment components:
• Engagement with key readings, where students are asked to comment on the assigned texts. Participation and quality of each students engagement with the assigned readings will be monitored and evaluated before each lecture resulting in a participation grade, which makes up 20% of the final mark.
• Two 2,000 word essays. Students will be given a series of possible questions, which will relate to the theories, concepts, and research covered during the entirety of the module. Students will be expected to answer two of these possible questions.

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